Rhino would like Vince McMahon to kiss his ass! He suggests Vince stop trying to bring back ECW from the dead. Rhino throws his ECW belt into an oil drum and sets it on fire. Of course, to stave of Vince's lawyers, the belt remains hidden in a red velvet bag the entire time. EXTREME.

Some people seem to have a real problem with this sort of thing, saying that it's giving ECW free advertising and that it makes TNA look bush league. I dunno, I don't think I really care either way. The live crowd sure seemed to love it.

Abyss vs. Norman Smiley: This should be a fun ohhhhhh it's over. Wow -- if Abyss is 6'8" then Smiley is around 6'6" -- I had no idea. After the match, the James Gang come out to solidify their alliance with Abyss. Holy shit, if Abyss is 6'8" then Kip James is at least 6'9".

I heard a rumor that James Mitchell has been calling Vince to try and get on the new ECW. If it's true, and if I were Vince, I'd snap him up in a second. Why not? How much can he cost? He'd fit right into the SciFi channel, and you cut Abyss off at the knees. It's win-win.

Shane Douglas tells us that the Naturals will take on Diamonds in the Rough at Victory Road. Speaking of rumors -- I guess those ones we heard of DitR not being used for a while were premature. Maybe the Nats will put 'em on the shelf, heralding their new HARD EDGE personas.

A.J. Styles & Christopher Daniels vs. The Paparazzi: The Paparazzi are Alex Shelley and Johnny Devine, here to make Kevin Nash proud. I like the Paparazzi shirts, even if Shelley doesn't. They have entrances -- then a commercial break -- THEN they have the full match without interruption. I wonder why it took so long for them to figure that out.

Styles and Daniels sure have some neat doubleteam stuff. Alex is quite funny and not a bad wrestler. Devine is adequate. Fun match -- too short. I'd like to see a longer match from them, for the titles, once Shelley and Devine have some time to gel.

Sirelda ("Sirelda"?) the Neutralizer makes an appearance to keep Shelley from using his tripod as a weapon. It would have been funnier if Nash had been there, and Sirelda could have neutralized him. I don't imagine Nash would have gone for that.

I don't mind Sirelda as a concept -- the Amazon Warrior and all that. I think, though, after the Victory Road match -- where she will counterbalance Gail Kim, who is the reason she was brought in in the first place -- she should be split off from Styles and Daniels. She towers over them and she doesn't really add anything, she doesn't really "fit." I dunno what could be done with her after that, but maybe that should tell you something.

Team 3-D & Rhino & Jay Lethal vs. Team Canada: Two stips here: If Team Canada loses they disband, and whoever gets the pin (no matter who wins) gets a title shot of their choice. Chaotic match, complete with an "everybody hits their finishers" section which concludes with the legal guys back at it (!). Jay Lethal (!) gets the pin on A1 after a top-rope headbutt following a Rhino gore. Enjoyable enough -- it moved right along. Hmmm -- maybe Lethal will take on Senshi at Victory Road ***EDIT! I forgot -- Lethal is joining Sabin to take on Nash and Shelley.

And you?

--K

(edited by Karlos the Jackal on 14.7.06 0052)Last 5 movies seen: Rivers and Tides - Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari - Lawrence of Arabia

I'm turning into a huge Alex Shelly fan. This past Sunday night, he and Chris Sabin tore it up at the Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup tourney for MCW and he was WAY over than Sabin (who dropped his MCW Cruiser-weight Championship later that night in the Cup final to CZW's Ruckus).

I wish I took my camera (it might be shown on the DVD) because Shelly has some AWESOME facial expressions. In a flurry of near-falls he had on Shelly, he busted out what can be best described as a "Sad Panda" frown. Almost as good as CRZ's in his before/after hair cut pic.

I thought this was a good show. I've never been one for belt destruction angles that never show the belt. That could have been a plastic WWE belt for all we know.

I'm glad that Norman Smiley is getting TV time, but I wish it was more than a two min squash.

Like CM Punk, I hear than Senshi is awesome. I keep feeling underwhelmed, especially with his foot-stomp finisher.

I kinda wish they would alternate (or mix) AJ and Daniels music. I like Daniels music more than AJ's music.

Team Canada is done. Does that mean that Roode moves to the world title picture? The Canadian Destroyer to the X-Division? A1 and Young become the new Diamonds in the Rough type jobbers?

Speaking of Williams. If you get a chance to see him live, jump on it. You think his finisher is impressive (or business exposing) on TV, it's such a "holy shit" moment when you're 12 feet from the right.

The Rhino promo was OVER with that crowd. Wow! And maybe it's my bitterness towards the new ECW, but I found myself marking out right along with them. And I don't see it as free advertising for ECW, it basically buried it, and said what most true ECW fans feel. It is times like this that I wish they had a TV title or something, because a guy as over as Rhino really has nothing to do to follow up that promo. Maybe get a tag partner to go after those belts. With AJ and Daniels holding the belts right now, that division seems more legit. Like when Angle and Benoit held the tag belts.

Dean! Have you been shooting dope into your scrotum? You can tell me! I'm hip!

The Rhino thing was bush league. TNA needs to stop trying to score points off of a company that has nothing to do with them and start worryig about their own problems. Spending ten minutes of an hour-long show talking about another product is such a waste of time.

To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires, and lights, in a box.-Edward R. Murrow

TNA's done a better job at promoting ECW the past few weeks than Raw has done. If Rhyno and the Dudleys ever leave TNA, I can just imagine the talks with Ace and McMahon. 'Man, we were working the fans, we'd figured we'd work an angle eventually. ECW! ECW!'

It's interesting to see how personal Rhyno and the Dudleys are taking the ECW revival. It's pretty much their characters now. 'Hey DW...here comes guys pissed off about ECW.'

Sure, the crowd loved it. The crowd also loved it when Bischoff challenged McMahon. It doesn't make it good business.

Sadly for them, ECW is NOT dead. It's actually drawing better ratings than TNA is. ECW doesn't need the help or attention.

As a rule, I don't like the idea of belts being thrown in the trash. (Didn't like it when Hall did it, didn't like it when Madusa did it.) What ruined the ~SHOOTERIFFIC~ vibe of it was the fact that the Cookie Monster didn't A) bring the belt out B) refer to Team 3D as the Dudley Boys.

The promo was intense, and the crowd did love it. But aside from ultimately pointless ranting about ECW (I doubt WWE management cares that Rhyno and the Dudleys aren't there, honestly. They definitely don't care that Douglas or Raven aren't) what does it accomplish. Does Rhyno get a push off this?

They actually should have done the pixelized belt deal. Though, since Rhyno competed in ONS I and lost to Sabu, I don't think he technically can claim being the last ECW champion.

Other than that, good show. The crowd chanting DX-rejects at the James Gang is a bit to smart for their own. These are TNA fans chanting for a WWE angle. That's them going off the reservation a bit. Maybe the best show of the week, though. Strong promo work But, they have a PPV coming up and all anyone is going to remember is that Rhyno cut a promo on ECW and Vince McMahon.

I really like Shelley and Devine, though. And Eric Young. Oh, Slick Johnson might be the most annoying babyface next to the Miz.

I sincerely doubt anyone watching TNA is saying to themselves "Wow, what's this ECW Rhyno is talking about? We should stop watching TNA and watch that instead!"

Not to mention ECW and TNA don't air at the same time, so it's not like Tony Schiavone ripping on Mick Foley as champ. I don't think TNA is losing any viewers as a result and I actually enjoyed seeing Rhyno and Team 3D cut into it. And they are right: ECW, as it currently sits, sucks compared to what it was when they were there.

Good for them. TNA ain't exactly a haven of pro wrestling, though, is it? If this was ROH I could understand, but they've their own issues they should be worrying about. I'd like to see Vince McMahon stroll down to the ring on Monday and deconstruct TNA's problems, because they're kind of asking for it with shit like this.

To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires, and lights, in a box.-Edward R. Murrow

The rhino promo was awsome. That was ECW. Just like when Franchise, Taz, Dudleys, or whoever else would go out and challenge the big boys back in the day. Promos like that always seem to motivate me to get behind someone. You know Vince and his guys aren't going to respond, but you would love it if they did. It gives TNA a look of, we'll fight you to the death" look. And its not giving WWe-c-dub publicity, WWE is promoting and destroying it on their own.

The one man weapon of mass destruction that all the ladies call the master of seduction, MARVELOUS MATT MERCER!!!Later and God blessMarvelous Matt Mercerwww.MATTMERCER.tk

Rhino certainly was intense, and I found myself nodding along with a lot of what he had to say. ECW will never be the same because Vince McMahon will never allow ECW to be like the way it was. I don't necessarily mean you have to keep pushing the same people ECW did-- you can have a new vision of ECW while staying true to the original spirit of ECW, instead of five weeks of essentially the same damn thing.

At least the ECW Title matches have been fun to watch, anyway.

There's no way Abyss is 6'8". 6'4", maybe. Why else do you think they had no interest in bringing in Matt Morgan? If Abyss is 6'8", Morgan is like the tallest motherfucker alive.

Senshi's match was OK, but I don't know how anyone can go around calling themselves the X Division Champion without having pinned Samoa Joe. For someone who's allegedly undefeated since arriving in TNA, Joe's sure lost a lotta matches. I understand they had to get the title off him without ditching the undefeated streak, but... it really kinda makes the title seem cheap to me right now. Maybe I'll feel differently after it's changed hands once or twice more in some great matches.

Decent match between Styles/Daniels and Shelly/Devine. But what's up with the non-title matches if the champions are just gonna win anyway? On the other hand I'm torn with that question, 'cuz I like how they're not just randomly handing X-Division title matches to Jerrelle Clark. Maybe I've been watching WWE and WCW too long or something.

Odd to see Jay Lethal score the pin in the main event, though it's certainly not an unwelcome change of pace. Why'd they immediately assume, though, that Lethal would go for the X Division title? According to what I understand, there's nothing to stop Lethal from going right ahead and challenging Jeff Jarrett for the World Heavyweight Title next week on Impact.

On the other hand... again I like that they don't necessarily place the World Heavyweight Title above the X Division Title in importance, even though logically one would assume the World Title is more important. Kinda similar to the prestige the ECW Television Title built up while Rob Van Dam held it for 23 months.

the Rhino promo was intense and very cool, BUT..five weeks late.It's easy for him to go out there and claim ECW is dead when he (they) actually know that the WWE-ECW is a lot different from the old school ECW.I am not sure if this convinces people to go watch ECW like some claim, but I don't think it will convince people to tune into TNA instead. And instead of waiting to do something cool with his challenge they pair him with Monty Brown.. I bet someone will run in though. Someone not quite that shocking but they will sell it like it's the biggest thing ever. Tito Ortiz maybe? I dunno.

The rest of the show..*shrug* It didn't do much for me.the 3d vs james gang feud I don't care about, the Senshi match wasn't interesting, the main event was imo a forgone conclusion (especially when adding the "any title shot" stipulation) It would have been nice if they had spent some promo time on the Nash/Shelly vs Lethal/Sabin match instead of 4+ promos on the #1 contenders match.The Sirelda thing has taken the focus from the awesomeness that is Styles & Daniels. They better have a great match and then part ways with her.

As for the title shot stipulation in the main event. I feel they actually clearly stated a sort of pecking order/ size division by having Tenay go that wrestler so-and-so would surely demand for a shot at this or that title. The heavyweight title is the most important title and it should be. So let them at least claim that maybe Bubba will want a shot at that one, or Jay Lethal. But isntead Tenay clearly said that Lethal, Young, Williams would surely go for the X-division title. You know, that division that is not about size, yet he only stated the smallest guys. Why wouldn't Rhyno care about the X-title? Or Bobby Roode?

We all know that Abyss is the least believable 6'8" anyone has ever seen. What I really enjoy is that they're also billing him as 350 pounds. Holy shit, even if Abyss WAS 6'8", with his build he probably still wouldn't top 300 pounds. 6'8" and 350lbs., Abyss has to be the funniest running joke on iMPACT!.